Effective Stratagies for Managing an Appraiser Shortage

Recognize there is a potential for a contraction in the number of appraisers.

• Align appraisal practice with regulatory intent by working with clients who use incentive-based ("carrot") approaches.

o Understand and strengthen clients’ criteria for selecting and engaging appraisers who consistently produce quality reports.

o Advocate for compensation and vendor-management practices that reward low revision rates and strong quality performance.

o Set and meet responsible, reasonable appraisal turn-time expectations based on assignment complexity and risk.

• Help clients establish a risk-focused appraisal review process that uses “material tests” to identify issues that could materially affect decision-making and need for revisions.

o Acknowledge and correct key factual errors in legal information.

o Recognize indicators of potential appraiser bias or discrimination and take appropriate escalation and remediation steps.

o Work with clients to establish, apply, and enforce practical revision rules (e.g., “material test that value impact under 5%) to accept minor mistakes without requesting a revision. 

• Recognize that clients can order a variety of valuation products for lower-risk transactions.

o Expect clients to select appropriate valuation alternatives when appropriate, consistent with statutory and policy requirements that are cost-effective and efficient.

o Differentiate yourself by producing good quality work products with low revision rates.

• Understand that clients are assessing capacity risks in the appraiser pipeline and creating a plan to build/maintain a qualified bench proactively.

o Talk with clients about creating an approved vendor list strategy that prioritizes appraisers with low revision rates and consistent performance.

o Develop approaches to strengthen the broader market (e.g., training, internships) while managing competitive considerations.

o Request your scorecards from clients and use them to measure, communicate, and improve appraiser performance over time.

• Demonstrate professional verbal and written communication practices with clients and other vendors, even in challenging situations.

o Establish collaborative, not adversarial relationships.

o Explain/Expect client to provide required property descriptions and engagement data at the start of an assignment to reduce delays.

o Ask for constructive feedback that is specific, risk-focused, and improvement-oriented.